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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

The hope of all the faculty and staff
of Shepherds College is that each student who goes through our program reaches his
or her fullest potential as a purposefully created human being.

How do we help the students get to
that point?

It may mean challenging a student
academically, or pushing him in Special Olympics, or placing him in social
situations that could take him out of his comfort zone.

It could mean repeated reminders about
chores, reassuring Bible verses written out on notebook covers, unwanted (by
students and advisors!) disciplinary
actions, or awards during Time to Shine.

It may mean that a day at Shepherds
College starts with tears of frustration and ends with high fives and fist
bumps.

It means seeing and believing in each
student’s God-given abilities and encouraging every smidgen of talent, skill
and strength out of her through instruction, repetition, reinforcement,
sensitivity, and love until the student can see and believe in her abilities on
her own.

It means a lot of hard work, diligence,
courage and faith.

It also means watching each student
don a gray cap and gown on graduation day and walk out the doors of the school
to a life of hope and possibility – a meaningful job? A closer relationship to
God? An apartment shared with a friend? Volunteer work? Marriage? New skills? A
greater sense of responsibility?

Whatever it looks like - this “fullest
potential” - it’s the triumphant result of a partnership between the student,
his parents, Shepherds College and God.

It is success.

The current students of Shepherds
College know what it takes to get to this point – they are walking that path
right now - and they want to share what they’ve learned with the incoming Class
of 2017:

“Do your homework! Doing your
homework helps you grow and learn. If you don’t do your homework, teachers will
be very unhappy and your grades will go down. If you are having complications
with your homework, do not hesitate to ask them. They are here to help you in
any way they can.”~ Sarah

“Focus on God and school work. Read
God’s Word and put it into action. These will be the best three years of your
life at Shepherds College, but you have to make them your best.” ~ Anthony

“Know the teachers and res life staff
are there for you when you need them.” ~ Crystal

“Have a great time at Shepherds
College and also make great friendships. You will have homework, but nothing
that will overwhelm you. Take your final exams. You will get your own locker to
keep your books and other stuff in there as well.” ~ Kathryn

“Do not be nervous and always be
honest. Have fun within reason. Enjoy your time at Shepherds College. It’s only
three years. Make an impact on people in your college community. Be a light to
people around you for Jesus calls us who are Christians to be ambassadors of
Christ. Even in the tough times, it’s important to be on your guard. Guard your
heart and your words that you speak to others because words that speak edifying
things bring up your peers. I would like to wish all the first-years luck for
the next year. May God bless you in everything that you do and say.” ~ Wade

“Learn your strengths. Shepherds
College is a very good school.” ~ Ryan

“Do not use technology after 9pm. If
you use technology after 9pm, you will be tired.” ~ Andrew

“Follow the rules without complaint.” ~ Jonathan

“If you feel frustrated with the
other students, find staff and never fight. Also, if you want to join any of
the clubs, don’t be shy. Join the club.” ~ Joey

“Do good in school. Don’t be lazy.
Work hard, study, start strong, finish strong. Remember to please God in all
you do. Stay encouraged.” ~ Willetta

“I would tell you that to be
successful you better be ready to work hard.” ~ Nathan

“Keep learning in class. Ask
questions to the people around you.” ~ Nick

“I would say do your homework and
work hard in everything you do.” ~ Ellie

“Respect the staff and students.” ~ Matt

“Responsibility. When you come to
Shepherds College, you want to learn to be on your own and independent.” ~ Isaac

“Make new friends. Have fun. Learn
new things.” ~
Geovanni

“There are sports that you can be on.
Work hard and do your best. Have fun!” ~ Julian

“Being successful at Shepherds
College is to be a great student. Be here. Make it your best time.” ~ Christi

“Make a ton of great friends and
teachers. Do a ton of activities and you will have a ton of fun at college.” ~ Grant

“Try not to get involved with the
students of the opposite gender. They are just trouble and draining. And don’t
gossip. Also, if you have a problem with another student, the staff won’t fix
it for you. Instead, they will help you solve it yourself because they are
training you for life.” ~ Suzanne

“Just be yourself, trust in the Lord
and He will guide you to greatness.” ~ Tommy

“Do some hard work to earn your
stay.” ~ Kirsten

“Be diligent in homework, chores,
etc. Be respectful of staff and others. Learn and have fun.” ~ Krista

“Listen to staff and teachers. The
rules are important to protect you from bad mistakes.” ~ Philip

“Do not make the same mistakes that I
did in the past. Listen to me because I will be a good leader and give good
advice and be a good example for the new students.” ~ David

“Just be yourself, study hard, relax,
don’t get stressed and just have fun.” ~ Cherokee

“Focus on the growth of yourself, and
enjoy your time as a first-year because it will go by fast.” ~ Ashley

“Follow the school policies, don’t be
disrespectful, and have fun.” ~ Torrey

“Train hard for a job.” ~ Miranda

“Plan to be faithful to do your school work.”
~ Bethany

“Read the blog. There is a lot of
good stuff on there to help you learn about the college. You can comment on it.
Keep looking to the future. You have a whole new world ahead of you. Have fun!” ~ Dallas

“Make the right choices and you will
not get into trouble or get demerits.” ~ Donovan

“Don’t be scared. There is nothing to
be afraid of. When I was a first-year, I didn’t know anyone, but I made friends
quickly. When you are a third-year, you will have a ton of friends.” ~ Daniela

“You should follow the rules. If you
follow the rules you will be able to do more things like being able to do a lot
of the activities.”
~ Nikki

“Follow the rules. Be respectful of staff and
other students. Meet different people in other dorm rooms.” ~ Christian

“Have a fun time. Learn to be
friendly and open-minded to the new ideas you learn at Shepherds College.” ~ Sean

“Learn your Bible verses, memorize
them and do a good job with your cleaning chores.” ~ Joshua

“As long as you keep up with your
chores, get homework done, follow the rules and listen to staff, you will do
just fine.” ~ Katy

“Do everything to the best of your
ability. The staff at Shepherds College will help you grow more independent
after college.” ~
Olya

“Stay focused and stay faithful to
yourself. Stay strong and never give up in any circumstance. Honor God, and He
will give you an amazing journey of a life.” ~ Micah

So there you
have it – great advice for a successful three years at Shepherds College and a
future filled with the fullest potential.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Heads are bowing together, lips are
moving, nods and knowing looking are being exchanged as this bit of news is shared
–

“Shepherds College only hires THE BEST
people…”

Normally, I run screaming from rumors,
but I have to stand firm and tell you, this one is absolutely true!

The college can’t take too much credit
though. In all honesty, God only brings us THE
BEST people so our pickins’ are… well, pretty
amazing to begin with. It’s obvious He has big plans for the future of
Shepherds College when the quality of the people populating the offices,
classrooms, dorms and hallways is observed.

Are you ready to meet the latest of
the greatest faculty members God has called to join our team?

Here’s Cassie Comerford, Lead
Instructor of Culinary Arts. She did such a complete and charming job of
answering my questions, I’m going to let her tell her own story in today’s blog:

Shepherds College:“Did
you always want to be a chef? Can you pinpoint when and why this desire
started?”

Chef Cassie: “Actually, no. Being a chef never was
in the picture. I come from a large, Polish family, and cooking – good cooking
– is just what you did for your family. I had great teachers – my mom, my
grandmothers and all the Polish ladies at my church. Everything was homemade. I
didn’t know Polish sausage could be purchased at a store. I only knew how to
make it at home.

My short story? I received my Bachelor of
Science degree in Interior Architecture from the University of Wisconsin,
Stevens Point. While working in Chicago, I was pursuing my Master’s degree in
Architecture and kept walking past this culinary school. I saw some interesting
classes and signed up for a 6-week class. I thoroughly enjoyed it, was smitten and
the rest is history.

Since earning my Culinary Arts degree from
Kendall Collage, I’ve had the pleasure of working in fine dining rooms, private
clubs, small boutique bakeries, large production bakeries, vegetarian and vegan
restaurants, as well as private consulting on a few start-up cafes creating
recipes, developing menus and running a Raw Food Kitchen in Puerto Rico.”

Shepherds College: “You’ve had
such diverse experiences in the field! What would you say are your
‘specialties?’”

Shepherds College:“What
is the most creative meal you’ve ever cooked for anyone?”

Chef Cassie:It was a Raw Vegan Lasagna, prepared for, and
shot on location in Milwaukee for Good Food America, featuring Nathan Lyon, an
Emmy nominated chef on the Veria Living network.It consisted of zucchini and yellow squash
‘noodles,’ with walnut ‘meat’ filling, macadamia nut ‘ricotta cheese,’ red bell
and sun-dried tomato marinara sauce and parsley-basil pesto, topped with micro
greens and pine nuts. It was so much fun and, I hope I’m not giving away a TV
secret, but it took about over four hours to shoot that four minute episode.

Shepherds College:“Wow!
You sound very health conscious. What are your thoughts on the influence food
has on health?”

Chef Cassie:“That is a biggie. It is so important.

I worked for a couple of years in Puerto Rico
at a Raw Food Health Institute. I saw people walking (or barely walking due to
inflammation, arthritis, etc…) into the program. After only a few short weeks
of letting go of the processed foods and sugary sodas common in the Standard
American Diet (SAD),I saw these people feeling
so much better! Byeating whole, fresh, clean
foods, toxins were released from their bodies, and they were nowwalking upright with a spring in their steps.”

Shepherds College:“Do you
already have plans for bringing something new to the Culinary Arts Program?”

Chef Cassie:“My plans are to continue the great job
that has already been done, especially continual training of the students in
proper and safe knife skill techniques. I’d like to add additional knowledge in
the areas of nutrition, healthy cuisine, vegetarian and vegan, how to do
delicious and healthy food substitutions, along with some background in ‘Raw
Vegan’ cuisine and, of course, gluten-free baking.”

Shepherds College: “I have to ask – with your extensive cooking
and travel experiences, what is the craziest thing you have ever eaten?”

Actually, with your adventurous spirit, love
of good food and the desire to improve the lives of people through high
quality, nutritious meals, we know the Culinary Arts students are going to LOVE
you… just nix the dried fish ice cream.

Chef Cassie:“My hope is that the students will see my
passion for teaching the culinary arts, my heart’s desire to help them learn,
and that cooking and baking can be so much fun and rewarding.”

Shepherds College:“Last
question, and then I’ll let you get on with your lesson plans – how does your
faith influence your work?”

Chef Cassie:“I pray that I am the hands and the feet
of the Lord, and that my teaching blesses each and every student.”

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Thank you to Cathy Harvey, Administrative Assistant to the College, for writing today's blog.

Intensive Preparation

When I worked in Intensive Care as a Nurse’s Aide we worked under the
philosophy of “Always be prepared.”For me, that meant the first thing required
every day on my shift, which was also done at the beginning of every shift, was
to inventory all the supplies - about 70 - in each cabinet next to a patient’s
bed.This included everything from Band-Aids
and multiple emergency first aid items to towels, wash cloths, and bed linens.Then, we inventoried everything in the linen
closet.If we were short by one wash
cloth, it was immediate retrieval from the hall closet.If the hall closet was short, it was
immediate notice to the laundry department who delivered what we were short
post haste!Even then, in some
emergencies, we ran short.Plan B of the
“always be prepared” motto was to take supplies from another ICU patient room
and restock everything ASAP after the emergency was handled.“Don’t
panic; take action” was our unspoken mantra.

Sage Advice

When I began teaching, a wise and experienced teacher gave me this
life-saving tip.“At the top of your
Lesson Plan, everyday, write, “Something unexpected may happen today.” Then if it does, you can
say you were prepared because it was at the top of your Lesson Plan.Sage advice!I took it to heart and it worked.It gave me a strong mental base to be prepared and be calm, come what
may.

“Back 40” Training

Fast forward about 20 years, and my role is not unlike David on the
back forty tending sheep. By God’s design, I am a mere usher in in the farthest
corner of a large gymnasium/auditorium for graduation of a university: scoping out the best seats, helping parents
find ideal spots to take photos, aware of what to do in case of emergency
evacuation, where all the exits are, helping people up or down the bleachers, and
discretely slipping off my shoes to rest my feet before the Recessional. Reliability,
team work, and attention to detail ultimately led to the Head Usher roles in my sixth and seventh years.This involved creatively
securing an entire team of ushers for two ceremonies in one day, writing a
training document, helping to determine a dress code, and handling come what
may.

Birthing the First Baby

In 2011, when we were crafting our first ever commencement for
Shepherds College, and the Dean was out for major back surgery from April on,
and someone needed to pull together the details of the actual ceremony plan, I
called on my friends from the university for support in commencement protocol
and plowed on.Words from the book of
Esther came to mind, “…for such a time as
this.” God had prepared the way for me with past experiences, and by God’s
grace and strength and a massive cooperation from every department at
Shepherds, we celebrated a grand inaugural graduation.God’s hand was evident!

Best Laid Plans

This year we celebrated our 4th annual commencement.You’d think we would be rolling along by now,
but as the saying goes, even the best laid plans can sometimes go awry.We thought you might enjoy reading about five
amazing God-moments that even the best laid plans could not contain.

God-Moment #1: Baccalaureate Bell Choir

Two or three days before our Baccalaureate service for the graduates,
the bell choir director came to me to say that two of the choir members had not
received permission to be off from work for one hour that morning to
perform.They had followed policy at
work and turned in their request a week or two in advance, but their immediate
supervisor had failed to turn it in to the appropriate personnel for
approval.Well, I thought, good thing I
didn’t print the programs yet.I assured
the director that I always had a Plan B, which would have been to substitute
taped music overhead in place of their 15 minutes, but we would certainly
prefer to hear the bells, a rare treat for the college!

The director was waiting for a call back that very day from the
members’ place of employment to see if it would work out.She did get that call the following day and
the bell choir was able to play with all its members!There are no current trained substitutes for
the choir should someone become ill or otherwise not be able to play, so we
were grateful it all worked out.I have
encouraged the director to plan one or two ministry concerts a year so we can
enjoy this beautiful choir more often.We thank God they have been a part of Baccalaureate all four years so
far, and especially this year, with last minute emergency prayers!

God-Moment #2: The Speaker’s Cap and Gown

As soon as we have a confirmed speaker, I make contact to ask for bio
information, and to find out if they need a cap and gown.This year, we had a confirmed speaker early
on, so we had a good start.All the
details of a graduation event take time, and an early start is always an
advantage.I take the blame for
this detail because I cannot remember if I ever asked the speaker if he had a
cap and gown from his alma mater and if he told me no.At the Friday night reception before
graduation day, Mr. Terrill introduced me to our speaker.I was happy to meet him and asked if there
was anything he needed at the pulpit to speak.We talked of a few details and then I asked if he had a cap and
gown.He did not, but said he had a
black suit. I simply said we would take care of that and gown him in a doctoral
gown as our honored guest.

Saturday morning of graduation, I checked the official guide to
academic protocol, and honored guests without academic regalia are, indeed,
robed in doctoral garb.All thanks to
God, we had an extra bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral gown and cap from
previous graduations.It was a seemingly
seamless solution, but it was God who helped those details to be in place this
year as He has helped us build our commencement event over the last three years.

God-Moment #3:Graduation Morning Photo Shoot

This year we were so blessed to learn of and acquire an excellent
photographer, Gretchen Hansen of Gigi’s Joy Photography.She took amazing photos of our graduates in a
photo shoot before commencement, then for the Friday Night Celebration
Reception, and was also coming for Graduation Day.The plan, which the Dean’s office assumed was
set, was for Ms. Hansen to come for a photo session at 11:30 a.m. graduation
morning to capture the students donning caps and gowns and to take group shots
of them with the Deans and Director.

Tick-tock, tick-tock... it was 11:30 and there was no photographer to be
found.The Dean is searching for her or
the Director of Marketing who was our main contact person for her.

We had numerous photo shoots this spring for magazines plus graduation,
and in all the hullabaloo of planning for all of them, this particular shoot,
somehow, was not put on the calendar for the photographer or our Director of
Marketing.What to do now?Becci Terrill, our Friday Night Reception
Coordinator, was searching the grounds for the photographer and saw Susan, our
Director of Marketing, just arriving.Susan was here with her camera because she did not expect the
photographer here until later.As it
turned out, the photographer had a morning emergency anyway when one of her
children got bitten by a dog, so she would not have been here even if it had
been on her schedule.Susan only had her
camera because she was not expecting the photographer to be here, so in the
end, we had a photographer and pictures as the Dean’s office had
anticipated.Thank you, God, for
orchestrating Susan to be here with her camera in spite of lost dates and dog
bites!

God-Moment #4:The Flag Bearer’s Bee Sting

The opening flag processional has become a much anticipated moment of
the commencement ceremony.Our pool of
flag bearers are keyed up with excitement, honored to be our color guard
marching in to majestic, God-glorying drums and orchestrations.Like uniformed soldiers, they all wear black
slacks and shoes with short-sleeved white shirts and white gloves.As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect”
and practice they did, over and over, until everyone was comfortable and
confident of the process and timing.This year, one flag bearer could not make any of the practices, so he
had his own session just hours before the event with the flag coordinator and
all the others.I practiced in his place
all week and told our new Flag Coordinator, Michele McGarry, I could be a Plan
B back-up if needed.

Because the students don’t have a chance to see the grand flag
processional on graduation day (because they are lined up in the hallway
waiting for their cue to process in), we let them sit in the bleachers during
flag bearer practices, so they can get a feel for how the commencement ceremony
begins.Residential Life staff are also
with them as they sit through the practices.

This year, we had some technical difficulties just prior to the ceremony
that kept me in the auditorium until about twelve minutes before start
time.Seeing the flag bearers in place, I
scurried out of the auditorium down to the back hallway where 75 students and
faculty were waiting to be led to the auditorium entrance.Someone was just finishing up prayer as I
took my place as Marshal at the head of the line.In a few minutes, with everyone calm and in
order, we walked quietly to the doors of the auditorium where the flag
processional had just started.Through
the narrow glass panel of the door, I barely saw a swift motion of someone in a
white jacket move past the window.I
didn’t have time to think much of it when Sheri Wright, one of the flag
bearers, pushed past me to enter the doors while saying, “Who took my
flag?”“I have no idea,” I replied and
wondered why and how someone would take her flag.

In the time it had taken me to walk from the auditorium to the back
hallway and come back to the gym doors, Sheri had been stung by a bee just
under her collar!She is allergic to
them, so she ran to nursing and then to the kitchen to make a baking soda paste
to put on the sting site.In her
absence, and in a split second of need, Julie Anderson, one of the Res Life
staff who was standing by all dressed up to open the gym doors for the
faculty/student processional, and who sat in on all the practices while
overseeing the students in the bleachers, grabbed the flag of the missing
bearer and smoothly took her place in the opening.She confidently marched her flag around the
room and back to its stand and no one in the audience knew the difference.

She just “happened” to be in a solid black dress with a white jacket to
blend in with the flag bearer uniform of white on top and black on the
bottom.This was even more amazing when she
told me her daughter had tried to talk her into wearing a black and white print
dress of hers.Julia was not comfortable
with the print or the length and instead decided to don a solid black dress
that hit below her knees coupled with a short-sleeved light-weight jacket.Not only that, but she lost track of time at
home and was running late.As soon as
she stepped into the gym, she had only just set her purse down on her chair and
had just stepped toward the doors by the flag bearers when the bee was
noticed.Out went the bearer and in
split seconds, without time to be nervous, between her and the other door
holder, they decided she was better dressed to carry the flag and off she went!

God-Moment #5:The Videographer’s Proposal

Lights, camera, music, action!Our big event was in process.Introductions, prayers, and songs had been sung; it was time for our
special speaker.Every year we stress
over the sound system which was designed eons ago for a gym, not for events
with speakers, choirs, and microphone needs.It is our thorn in the flesh every year.

This year we had a wireless clip-on mic for the main speaker, but
shortly into his speech, we began to hear booming and loud pops
intermittently.What was that? Were
people on the bleachers making that noise?No, it didn’t seem so.Were there
kids outside bouncing basketballs into the side wall? No, I could hear it
coming from the other side of the room at times.As the speaker continued, the pops and booms
were heard in various places around the room.Our guest videographer and his two student assistants were huddled in
the corner scrambling to problem solve.The Marketing Director was on the opposite side of the gym frustrated about the booming in the bleachers.This went on for the speaker’s entire speech.Ugh. What happened?After much research and discussion, it was
determined that the speaker’s wireless had somehow come loose, and every time
he leaned forward and hit the podium, it was shorting and making the booming or
popping sounds.The video team was
beside themselves wondering what to do to produce a memorable DVD for us.It turned out, in the end, to be an excellent
learning experience for the team.Their
instructor, the head of the Visual Arts Department at the local high school,
suggested that beyond splicing together a wonderful montage of this year’s
ceremony, they would like to know if they could come back next
year-periodically throughout the year-to capture multiple third year student
footage for a more comprehensive summary of their last year leading up to
graduation!Would that be
possible?!Why, yes, yes, yes, and thank
you, God!With some grooming and
practice at doing public events such as this, our Marketing Director and I saw
this as a wonderful, wonderful God-driven win-win situation.

So, it was God all along.God in
the training, God in the making, and God to the rescue.No matter how detailed the plans, how
complete the lists, how many practices we shoot for, there is always the
potential for surprises and human error.We’re not in our perfect bodies or minds yet!All we can do is close this blog the same way
we end every commencement program booklet,